Geaux Rocket Ride winning the Haskell over Mage. (Nikki Sherman/EQUI-PHOTO)
Cody’s Wish Maintains Overall Lead Following Week #2 Voting
Breeders’ Cup Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. ― Geaux Rocket Ride and Mage, the first two finishers in last Saturday’s TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1), improved their ratings this week in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, while Cody’s Wish maintained the overall lead. The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), which will be run Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
Pin Oak Stud LLC’s Geaux Rocket Ride, who earned a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In berth into the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic with a 1 3/4-length victory over Mage in the Haskell, zoomed from 30th to sixth in this week’s Classic Rankings, garnering 160 votes. Mage, winner of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), rose from sixth to fifth with 178 votes.
Godolphin’s Cody’s Wish tops all Classic contenders in the rankings with 315 votes, followed by Gary and Mary West’sStephen Foster Stakes (G1) winner West Will Power in second with 233 votes. Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Forte, second in the Belmont Stakes (G1),ranksthird with 206 votes, while Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman’s Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G1) winner Defunded is fourth with 193 votes.
After Mage and Geaux Rocket Ride, Blue Rose Farm’s Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo follows in seventh with 143 votes. Lucky Seven Stable’s Rattle N Roll is eighth with 105 votes, followed by Suburban Stakes (G2) winner Charge It in ninth with 86 votes. Bruce Lunsford’s Art Collector, winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes presented by Baccarat (G1), ranks 10th with 50 votes.
The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders’ Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 10. A list of voting members can be found here.
In the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.
Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings – July 25, 2023*
| Rank | Horse | Votes | First Place Votes | Previous Week |
| 1 | Cody’s Wish | 315 | 25 | 1 |
| 2 | West Will Power | 233 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Forte | 206 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Defunded | 193 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Mage | 178 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | Geaux Rocket Ride | 160 | 1 | 30 |
| 7 | Arcangelo | 143 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | Rattle N Roll | 105 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Charge It | 86 | 0 | 8 |
| 10 | Art Collector | 50 | 0 | 9 |
*Note – The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The 2023 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 1/4 miles on the main track at Santa Anita, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC and Peacock.
